


In which Mark Watney gets left at the gas station.

by karaluvsketchup



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Crack Fic, Gen, High School AU, like really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4993615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karaluvsketchup/pseuds/karaluvsketchup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six students have to leave the science fair early because of bad weather. Will they all make it home alive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	In which Mark Watney gets left at the gas station.

They all get a text from Beth: _Principal just called my mom, we’re going to have to go home early because of the storm. Come meet me in the hotel room._

Six students from Ares high school had won their categories at the county science fair to qualify for regionals: senior and club president Melissa Lewis, for geology; senior Mark Watney, for botany; senior Rick Martinez for physics; junior Chris Beck for biomedical science; junior (and German exchange student) Alex Vogel for chemistry; and finally freshman Beth Johanssen for computer science.

They all gather in the room that Beth and Melissa are sharing with Beth’s mom (the four boys have the room next door), and get the rundown. The thunderstorm that they already knew about is supposed to be, like massive. Enough so that there will probably be traffic delays and there could even be landslides. Principal Sanders wants to pull the plug and have them head home now rather than waiting for the awards ceremony. There’s some argument, Mark thinks leaving now is a dumb idea, Melissa wants to play it safe, but in the end they decide to go.

Beth’s mom leaves twenty minutes later, and shortly after that all six kids are in Rick’s mom’s Suburban with all the science fair projects thrown into the trunk. Mark goes all the way to the back, muttering something about taking a nap, Alex, Beth, and Chris take the middle seat, and Melissa sits up front with Rick.

After an hour of rainy-but-not-too-horribly-so driving Rick stops for gas. Mark’s asleep in the back and they don’t really see the point in waking him, so the rest of them just jump out to go buy snacks and use the restroom. It’s a quick stop and soon they’re back on the road, a little happier than they were before.

Five minutes later, Beth glances over her shoulder and says, with a shaky voice, “uh, guys… Mark’s not back there.”

***

So Rick pulls off the freeway at the next exit and turns around. Soon they’re back at the gas station, where they ask around but no one’s seen Mark. Melissa pulls out her cell phone to try to call him, but apparently the storm’s managed to knock out the local cell tower so that’s a bust. The storm is getting really bad at this point, too - pouring rain, blasting wind, thunder and lightning. Everyone goes out and looks, but after ten minutes and no success, they go back to the suburban to regroup.

“We should leave,” Chris tells the others. “He’s probably dead by now.”

“I have to find him.” Melissa objects.

“I don’t think we’ll make it back tonight if this gets any worse,” Rick tells her.

“You guys can wait here, just give me a few more minutes.” Melissa tells the others. She wraps her jacket tightly around herself and goes back out into the storm. The rain and the wind continue, and eventually Chris goes out and drags her back to the car.

“All your going to do is make us go home missing two people rather than one. Mark’s gone, we need to get out of here.”

She’s shaking, still wanting to object, but she lets him lead her back to the Suburban.

“Alright, are we leaving?” Rick asks. “I think it should be your decision, you are the Science Club president, after all.”

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.” Melissa tells him.

 

 


End file.
